Although Lu Bu is still a subordinate of Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao did not know Lu Bu's good news earlier than other princes. At least Liu Bei from Chang'an almost got the news that Lu Bu killed Bu Dugen and burned the Shengle Xianbei royal court.

However, the other princes in the south had relatively low news, and they were only ten days and half a month later than Yuan and Liu.

The reason for this situation is also related to the fact that before the encounter between Bu Dugen and Zhang Liao, Zhang Fei and Hu Chuquan had been sending scouts to stare at Bu Dugen.

As mentioned earlier, as early as the end of October, Zhang Fei and Hu Chuquan regained most of the Hetao area, Ma Chao occupied Yinchuan, Shuofang, Hu Chuquan occupied Wuyuan, and Zhang Fei occupied Shangjun. Wuyuan and Shangjun were both bordering Yunzhong, which was occupied by the Xianbei people.

Zhang Fei also knew that it was difficult to leave the bank of the Yellow River and go deep into the grassland and desert to pursue it, so he didn't want to put the large army too far forward, and it would be difficult to end the incident when the scouts were in full swing. However, the scouts were always sent. When the reconnaissance was in depth, they could even go forward for more than 200 miles to scatter the scouts team, and rotated in three or five days to ensure that the enemy did not move.

Bu Dugen on the opposite side did the same. If his reconnaissance power had not been concentrated on Zhang Fei, he would not have been attacked so easily by Zhang Liao.

Just one day after Bugendu's death, Zhang Fei's scout noticed the abnormality and took the risk of reconnaissance to the northeast. Then he found that Tuoba Liwei's army was coming and leaving, as if it was a change from behind. Within a few days, Zhang Fei figured out everything, and then sent the messenger Pegasus to speed up, changing horses every day and running more than 400 miles, and sending military information to Chang'an within three days.

...

"The third brother and Bo Qi fought several defeats in Hetao, fighting the Xianbei people and the pseudo-Southern Xiongnu were exhausted. Unexpectedly, they were finally picked up by Lu Bu and Zhang Liao. Forget it, it was good for the great cause of all Han people, so it was just a happy event."

Liu Bei was very sorry for his first reaction when he received the urgent report. After all, he must have made up his mind to compete with Yuan Shao for the world and regarded Yuan Shao as his imaginary enemy.

However, he quickly adjusted his mentality. After all, Liu Bei had already regarded the Han people's world as his own. As long as it was beneficial to the overall career of the Han Dynasty, it would be better to celebrate the whole world, and there was no need to care so much.

He looked at the description of the battle report in detail, and added that this information was written by Zhang Fei's people, so he would definitely beautify Zhang Fei and Hu Chuquan's efforts on his position.

So what Liu Bei saw became more and more "Lu Bu and Zhang Liao were a character who took advantage of the enemy's exhaustion and gained bargains."

Judging from the actual results, this judgment is not wrong. In the battle between Lu Bu and Zhang Liao, the number of Xianbei troops annihilated on the front battlefield was obviously not as good as Ma Chao and Chuquan and Zhang Fei's two consecutive months of battle.

Of course, in the end, Lu Bu broke through the Shengle royal court, and the massacre of Shengle's non-combatants could not be included. If the 40,000 to 50,000 elderly, weak, women and children who were slaughtered, Lu Bu's gains would be doubled compared to Liu Bei's camp.

After Liu Bei finished reading it, he immediately summoned Li Su and Xun You again, informed the situation and asked everyone for their opinions. This kind of military and political affairs is not good at Zhong Yao and Liu Ba, so they are not among the questions asked. However, Fa Zheng, who is still serving as deputy to Zhong Yao, can be almost re-mobilized to a more suitable staff position as a staff officer.

Li Suxun You's reaction was similar to Liu Bei. He was surprised and regretful at first, but then he figured it out. They couldn't help but calculate, after this battle, Yuan Shao's camp's book strength.

Yuan Shao originally claimed to be 400,000, but the cavalry troops of his direct line were only 60,000, and Lu Bu still had more than 10,000. This time, he took Tuoba Liwei's nest and killed Bu Dugen. The number of war horses obtained by the two groups of confiscated was probably very amazing. Yuan Shao could at least expand the cavalry troops of 20,000 to 30,000 people.

In this way, including Lu Bu, the cavalry scale of Yuan Shao's camp will reach a terrifying 100,000 people! Become the first prince of the Han Dynasty with a six-figure cavalry! Even Dong Zhuo at his peak, his cavalry actually had less than 100,000.

There is nothing we can do about this. Who made the four states unified by Yuan Shao be in the north and have sufficient horse-producing land?

Liu Bei's cavalry is now expanding rapidly, but in fact, it is only Liangzhou, the main horse breeding land. Hetao has only recovered this year, and basically no livestock production has been restored. The horses obtained in the Hetao area were seized on the battlefield this year.

Yuan Shao has two major horse-producing lands in Youzhou Bingzhou. Moreover, Youzhou has been pacified for three or four years, and its production has recovered well and its mobilization capabilities have also increased. In the future, the world will be in chaos again, and Yuan Shao's total military force may approach 450,000, including 350,000 infantry and 100,000 cavalry.

After analyzing the situation and strength clearly, Liu Bei, who has a good mentality recently, will of course be concerned about Yuan Shao’s next move.

He asked bluntly: "Do you think Yuan Shao will ask Lu Bu to continue to plunder and expel the Xianbei and gain more cavalry and war horses through war? Is the continued use of troops on the grassland in line with the interests that Yuan Shao will face soon?"

Xun You thought about it, and the county observed Li Su's reaction. Seeing that Li Su turned his face and pretended not to understand, Xun You hesitated for a moment and said:

"Yuan Shao is also ambitious and wants to contribute to the Han Dynasty. This kind of thing is naturally unshirkable. In fact, isn't the king also so obliged?

The king asked General Zhang and General Ma to wipe out the pseudo-Huns, General Zhao to intimidate Lin Yi, and Lu envoys to broaden shipyards in the South China Sea to develop new ships suitable for the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Isn’t it all for the sake of the four barbarians?”

These words are very glorious and positive, and they are obviously expressed by the unparalleled and righteous Han officials.

Liu Bei was of course very easy to accept when he heard this. But he vaguely realized that Xun You was burying the advice that he could not speak behind the words of human beings who could speak.

Liu Bei was not stupid either, he was all over. When he was dispatched Yang Xiu and Yuan Shao to put pressure on Cao Cao and Yuan Shu together, Liu Bei knew what the ultimate goal was.

Liu Bei also received the news that Zhu Jun was critically ill in time, so now we have to create a illusion of central emptiness for Yuan Shu:

Liu Bei's main force is in Hetao, Jiaozhou, and Yuan Shao's main force is north of Youzhou, Bingzhou, and he is playing with the Hu people. Once the center has any problems, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao will not be able to free up their hands to save the car as soon as possible.

"Yes, it's all for the great man." Liu Bei insincerely admitted Xun You's statement on his face, which made everyone feel at ease: I am not afraid of being guessed by my subordinates about certain issues.

It’s actually nothing to be an emperor, but now it can be said. Didn’t Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu be afraid of being Wu Han and the others know that he had the ambition to become an emperor?

But what cannot be said is just the attitude towards Dangjinzi. Dangjinzi has an orderly inheritance. Although it is not a virtuous person, it is not the kind of existence of Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan.

Some tragedies can only be acquiesced, not explicitly stated. Only when it comes to avenging the late emperor can it be explicitly stated.

After hearing this, Li Su decided to take less muddy waters. He didn't need any credit to consolidate his position. Since Liu Bei and Xun You had already had a chat, Li Su took the opportunity to find an errand for himself:

"King, I remember that at the beginning of the year, I once asked you for leave, saying that in winter, I wanted to go to the warm places in the south, and take Aliang with me to supervise the work there.

I have not been in good health in the past two years. I have lived in Chang'an and Xiliang for a long time and have not been accustomed to bitter cold. So I still hope that the king will fulfill this request. I will not live in Jiaozhou for a long time. I will take a little care of supporting Zijing's reform and reforming shipping, and I will return to Changsha, Jingzhou before February next year.

After all, the king's territory is blocked and divided by Yuan Shu and Liu Biao in the middle. If something happens to the Central Plains in the north, the resources in Jingnan, Yizhou, Jiaozhou and other places in the south will not be easily dispatched quickly, and will be used for the king's great cause of defending the king's rebellion. I will be the king's only one in the south for the time being. After the crux of my heart is opened, I will return the power of the governor."

After hearing this, Liu Bei quickly realized that Li Su was not going to fulfill his second half of his annual leave. He was already preparing for "once Yuan Shu has abnormal actions, the forces of Liu Bei's camp will attack Yuan Shu from both north and south."

Of course, the northernmost transportation hub of Liu Bei's army was just Baqiu in Changsha County. In order to attack Yuan Shu in an emergency, it actually had to pass through Liu Biao's territory.

But when that day comes, Liu Bei can beat the rabbit and force Liu Biao to express his opinion that Yuan Shu has a great rebellious problem now. We want to cross the border to serve the king. Do you want to give way? Liu Biao will not give way, either pass directly, weaken it, or attack Guo.

With Liu Biao's attitude of sitting on the ground, Liu Biao in history did not dare to fight the other princes with a large-scale bet on his life. Of course, this kind of surrender may not be directly a subordinate of Liu Bei, but was suppressed to the current appearance of Cao Cao under Yuan Shao, becoming a semi-independent vassal.

Liu Bei felt that this idea was acceptable, but he was a little doubtful about the feasibility of the military perspective, so he asked: "Are you a little farther from Jingnan Wufu Yuan Shu?"

Li Su: "It is indeed a little farther to mobilize troops from Jingnan to cross Liu Biao's territory and attack Nanyang, Yingchuan, Runan and other places. However, the key to the expedition is not how far the army should go, but how far the food road should go.

When the Jingnan army went north to Nanjun. When Xiangyang was in Xiangyang, even if Liu Biao stayed in the door and did not help each other, we could still go around the city. As long as we carried the food that could reach Xiangyang, the subsequent military supplies of our army could fully expect Wu Yi from Hanzhong to go downstream to transport. The land of Shangyong had been silting for many years and had saved a lot of food and grass, which was for the purpose of this battle.

Moreover, attacking Nanyang from the south is not like walking on Wuguan Road from Chang'an. If you have to break through the 600-mile valley and cross the remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains, you don't have to break through the Yuguan Pass and Wuguan that is now under Yuan Shu's hands... Although these levels are not as dangerous as Tongguan and Hangu Pass, you may not be able to get it for several months."

When mentioning these levels, Li Su specially used an emphasis tone.

Liu Bei quickly realized: If Yuan Shu had done something wrong and directly broke through the great barrier, wouldn't he have saved the lord successfully...

If the emperor was still alive, no matter how you attacked Yuan Shu, you would not be able to overcome the barrier. Your Majesty suddenly broke through it after he had a few shortcomings. This is not easy to explain to the people of the world. Although this may be the case with the objective military situation.

If you want to avoid suspicion, after His Majesty has been in trouble, you still cannot break these heroic passes for a long time, then you would have avoided it. However, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, who took action faster, might have attacked Yuan Shu's other territory to pieces.

It is better to split the way from south to north to cooperate, so that before the rebellion is completely successful, many counties have been won along the way.

Liu Bei finally made the decision: "The land under the rule of Gu is indeed too scattered. It is blocked by Yuan Shu and Brother Jing Sheng in the middle, so it is difficult to uniformly dispatch it. Boya went south this time, and it is temporarily under your control. When encountering emergencies, there is no need to send an envoy to ask for instructions. It is not too late to ask for instructions when it will be broken through Nanyang and open up Wu Pass."

This temporary appointment may be only a few months in a short time, and it should not be more than a year in a long time. When Liu Bei met Li Su next time, it should have been after the Nanyang transportation hub was opened.

Zhao Yun, Lusu, Ganning, Zhou Tai, Wei Yan, Li Yan and other generals who were already in the south, naturally all came to Li Su's temporary command when an emergency occurred. The materials from Chengdu Plain to Bajun Jiangzhou can also be dispatched and used through the Yangtze River waterway.

If you want to take care of so many things temporarily, it is definitely necessary to give a fake ritual. You can stay in the position for the time being, and add a temporary errand to the military affairs of Dianzhou.

Guan Yu, who pacified the place in Liangzhou, should change his place and go to his hometown in Hedong and replace Zhang Fei. At that time, he can directly supervise the number one main force of Liu Bei's army on the front line of Chang'an and Hedong.

As for Zhang Fei, Liu Bei decided to transfer him to Hanzhong and master the resources of the entire northern Yizhou. The north of Jianmen Pass and south of Qinling Mountains were all dispatched by Zhang Fei, so that Zhang Fei could send Hanzhong and Shangyong soldiers to Xiangyang and Nanyang along the Han River, and go down the river.

Guan Yu mainly attacked the Yellow River Basin, Zhang Fei mainly attacked the Han River Basin, and Li Su and Zhao Yun mainly attacked the Yangtze River Basin to head north.
Chapter completed!